The departure of Witty, 51 and a company lifer of 32 years, disappointed investors as at the company's full year results in February he had reassured them that the drugmaker was on course for recovery this year.

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However, he has faced consistent calls from shareholders, including fund manager Neil Woodford, for a break-up of the group, with critics arguing that its pharmaceuticals and consumer health units would do better as standalone businesses.

The company confirmed Witty will retire on March 31 2017 - having led the group since 2008 - with a number of other company directors also deciding against standing for re-election to the board at the AGM in May.

Hot seat: Sam Walsh at Rio will be replaced by the firm's coal and copper head Jean-Sebastien Jacques (pictued), who used to be a strategy director at Tata Steel Group

He said: 'By next year, I will have been CEO for nearly 10 years and I believe this will be the right time for a new leader to take over.

'In making this decision it has been important to me that the board have the time to conduct a full and proper process and that we sustain the momentum of our current business performance, capitalising on the very significant progress we made last year to strengthen the group.'

Witty's tenure as boss has not been without controversy.

In 2013, Glaxo was caught up in a fraud scandal in China, while in February this year he received another blot on his copy book when it was announced that Glaxo and a number of generic pharmaceuticals firms were fined £45million for anti-competitive practices in the UK.

In the company's annual report, it was revealed that Sir Andrew was awarded a hefty total pay package worth £6.7million last year - a significant rise on the £3.9million paid out in 2014.

Rio Tinto boss Sam Walsh, who is 66, will leave sooner than Witty, having spent just three years in the top job.

He will depart this July and will be replaced by the firm's coal and copper head Jean-Sebastien Jacques, who used to be a strategy director at Tata Steel Group.

The world's second-largest miner has been struggling to maintain profits amid a slump in commodity prices.

Under Walsh, Rio undertook a major cost-cutting programme and dropped its progressive dividend policy.

Shareholders were told they will no longer see payouts maintained or raised each year after the mining giant reported a 50 per cent drop in underlying annual earnings last month.

In a statement, Rio Tinto said today's announcement was 'the culmination of comprehensive and deliberate executive succession process'.

It added: 'Jean-Sebastien is the right person to lead Rio Tinto in an increasingly complex world filled with both challenges and opportunities for our industry.'

Walsh, an Australian, spent two decades in the car industry before joining Rio Tinto in 1991.

He replaced Tom Albanese as chief executive in 2013 after his predecessor was ousted following expensive and unsuccessful acquisitions in aluminium and coal.

Rio's chairman Jan du Plessis said: 'The board appointed Sam as chief executive at a challenging time for our company and I am very grateful for his tremendous leadership.

'Against the backdrop of a volatile economic environment, Sam and his team have transformed the business, removing more than $6billion in costs, strengthening the balance sheet and returning more than $13billion to shareholders.'